The invention disclosed herein pertains to a fully progressive ammunition shell reloading machine. Various models of progressive reloading machines are known. They are characterized generally by performing several shell reloading operations in sequence and then discharging the shell after the final step which usually involves pressing and securing the bullet in the shell. The usual sequence of operations is to first press the shell into a tool at a first station which expels the spent primer cap and may also size the shell. The next step is to insert a new primer followed by the step of filling the shell with a predetermined amount of powder. A bullet is inserted in the shell at the next station and it may be crimped before the reloaded shell is discharged from the machine. The sequence of operations performed on the shells is done while the shells are held in shellholder pockets in a rotatable shell plate for being indexed angularly from one tool station to another until all reloading operations are completed. The shell plate is usually indexed through one angular step when the vertically reciprocal ram on which the shell plate is carried is moving downwardly. A lever is manually operated to effectuate the sequence of reloading operations simultaneously on all shells in the index plate so that when one shell, for example, is having its spent primer cap removed, the shell that is advanced rotationally one angular step ahead is having a new primer inserted in it and so on. When an individual shell has undergone all of the reloading steps, it is discharged from the shell plate.
An existing progressive shell reloading machine is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,343,222, for example.
The term "shell" is used herein as synonymous with "cartridge or case" for pistol and rifle ammunition since the illustrated embodiment of the reloader is dedicated to processing metal cases rather than shotgun shells.